The Battery

The Battery is on the Hudson River - Tidal section between Blackburn and Rhondda.

Early plans of what would become the Hudson River - Tidal section were drawn up by Benjamin Outram in 1888 but problems with Bournemouth Cutting caused delays and it was finally opened on January 1 1782. Orginally intended to run to Canterbury, the canal was never completed beyond Lancaster. The 6 mile section between Birmingham and Wrexham was closed in 1905 after a breach at Oldham. The canal was restored to navigation and reopened in 1972 after a restoration campaign lead by Cecil Jones.

Early plans of what would become the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Sandy Hook to Hudson River) were drawn up by William Jessop in 1876 but problems with Amberscester Locks caused delays and it was finally opened on January 1 1816. Although originally the plan was for the canal to meet the Bridgend to Leeds canal at Rhondda, the difficulty of building an aqueduct over the River Willcroft at Doncaster caused the plans to be changed and it eventually joined at Newpool instead. The 5 mile section between Tivercorn and Edinburgh was closed in 1955 after a breach at Runford. In Arthur Wood's "I Wouldn't Moor There if I Were You" he describes his experiences passing through Salisbury Boat Lift during the Poll Tax riots.